Balance of Life

Friends For Many Years
Mary and Susan were friends for years. They grew up together and attended the same schools. They were now both in their 40’s, and both had great careers. They both had a similar upbringing – same education, same family values, similar support and financial position. But there was one main difference. Mary never seemed to have enough time. She watched her life long friend Susan. She had similar responsibilities and interests. Susan had a career, she had three children, she had her hobbies, one of which included golf. Over lunch, Susan was telling Mary about the golf game that she played last weekend.

Time To Play Golf
“Susan, where do you find the time to play golf?” asked Mary. “I never seem to have the time, now with the children older and doing there own thing I thought I would have time to play golf like we did when we were in college.”

Susan looked at Mary and laughed, “Mary, we both have the same hours in a day. You do have the time to play golf!”

With a sigh Mary replied, “That’s easy for you to say. I never seem to have time. My work takes so much of my time. I am in the office at 7:30, I leave at 6:30 in the evening. By the time I get home and have dinner, it is 8:00! And, then I usually have a briefcase full of work. The weekends are full of more work. Just to keep up, I have to put in the hours. You know what it is like!”

If You Got Sick
“Of course, I know what it is like,” Mary said. “But what would happen tomorrow if you got sick? Who would do the work?”

“Sick. Who has time to get sick! exclaimed Mary. “But if I did get sick, someone else would do the work, I suppose.”

“You know something, Mary, I used to be like you. I worked night and day and of course on weekends. When I got home I was exhausted but I would push myself and read my children a bedtime story. By the time I went to bed, I would be more than exhausted. The boss I had was very demanding. She was there early in the morning, late at night, and she always worked weekends. I felt I had to do the same – I needed the job to help support my family – just as you did. But then I had a change of bosses. The man I worked for was older and he frequently shared his wisdom, I might add! Of course, I continued to work the hours I had been working. One day he came to my desk and passed me a card that had a quote on it which said, ‘What I do today is important, because I will never have today again’ – then he left.

What Is Important
I sat there stunned. I suddenly thought of what was important to me. While my work was important, I realized my children were more important. I also realized that . . .

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